On Mission with The Great Commission

AND THE LORD JESUS SAID, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

As the Church of Jesus Christ, we have the inexpressible joy of being ON MISSION WITH THE GREAT COMMISSION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. He, like His Word, is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow and judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts and passionately inviting us to be ON MISSION with Him!

John Piper puts it this way: "God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose."

To be ON MISSION WITH THE COMMISSION IS NOT ONLY OUR DELIGHT BUT OUR ABSOLUTE DIRECTIVE FROM THE ABSOLUTE DIRECTOR OF HISTORY AND HUMANITY. It is serious business and it’s time to be serious about it!

William Booth said, “Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters (and sons and daughters) not to come there. Then look Christ in the face -- whose mercy you have professed to obey -- and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”

We have the Mission, We have the Commission, We have only left to ask “When’s it gonna happen?”
The God of the Universe is ON MISSION to redeem lost humanity. He has invited EACH OF US AND ALL OF US to partner with him!

It is HIS PLAN that we be part of THE PLAN. If we fail to plan, then we plan to fail. Evangelism and Discipleship and Church Planting are NEVER DONE except by intention!

To help encourage you, later this evening after Church, each of you will be interviewed personally by the Evangelism Linebacker. We’ve flown him in fresh from working with the National Institute for Student Ministries in Dallas and in case you haven’t heard of him, here’s a taste of what will happen when you talk to him:

If I thought that would really work for you and me, we would REALLY fly him in. What DOES work for you and me is when we walk closely, daily, authentically, transparently and passionately with the Lord Jesus Christ; and HIS PASSION fires our souls to be ON MISSION with HIM!

That Passion will show us a path from our Church into our world.

That path can take many forms. Sometimes it looks like this:
ClassCommunityCommission…

This means loving Jesus enough to rearrange our lives to prioritize the forming of intentional relationships that will result in people coming to Christ and our being a part of their discipling until they are fully formed, fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ!

Here’s how it happened in the life of a girl named Christa………(Fruitcake and Ice Cream…)

Here’s the deal. You and I WILL make a decision EVERY DAY of the rest of our lives………

Or like Bill Borden. He’s the man who wrote in the front of his Bible, “No Reserve, No Regrets, No Retreat”.

No Reserve: what or who in your life is holding you back from an absolute commitment to Christ?
No Regrets: what in your past is allowing to keep you from being totally abandoned to the Lord Jesus?
No Retreat: release the past, dedicate the present and say: “this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The Church exists primarily for those not yet in her. The passion to Make Disciples is not something tacked onto our personalities which we may take or leave; it is ROOTED In the character of God. It must never be the province of a few enthusiasts or a specialty of those who happen to have a bent that way; it is the very essence of our Salvation! Let us no longer enjoy our Christianity within the safe sound of a ringing bell but instead turn this Church into a RESCUE MISSION located within a yard of Hell because I am NOT ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it IS the power of God unto salvation…………